1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to device authentication and more particularly to device authentication in a flexible display computing device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Device authentication refers to the testing of an identity of an end user of a device to ensure proper authorization of the end user to access the device. Traditional methods of performing device authentication include general password authentication in which an end user submits in response to a prompt a predetermined password in order to gain access to the device. More advanced forms of password authentication involve the submission of any combination of a user identifier, private key or passphrase in addition to one or more answers to one or more corresponding challenge questions. Even more advanced modes of device authentication involve biometric analysis in which the finger print, voice print or iris scan of an end user can be compared to a pre-stored print in order to assure the authorized access of a submitting end user.
Imagery has been incorporated previously in the device authentication process. Specifically, an image can be pre-stored by an end user and, during authentication, the pre-stored image can be provided to the end user so that the end user can be assured that the authentication system is genuine and not spoofed. Likewise, imagery has been incorporated into an authentication process by comparing a pre-stored image to that acquired by a device camera. To the extent the imagery matches, access to the device can be granted. Of course, acquiring an image that precisely matches a pre-stored image is not without its apparent complications.
Of note, new advancements in different types of computing devices have created new opportunities for developing different manners of device authentication. In particular, the advent of flexible display technologies provides for a computing encasement that differs dramatically from the more traditional, inflexible device encasement. In this regard, a flexible display is a display that is flexible in nature; differentiable from the more prevalent traditional flat screen displays used in most electronics devices.